'Wurna Juwal' by Ngarralja Tommy May, 100% Silk Satin Twilly - Represented by One of Twelve (m/oft009)

100% silk satin twilly, featuring work by Mangkaja artist Sonia Kurarra.

MATERIALS: 100% Silk Satin, double sided printing with hand rolled edges.

DIMENSIONS: 12 x 180 cm

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Mangkaja Arts is a thriving, Aboriginal-owned and governed art centre based in the township of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Established in 1981, the art centre evolved from modest beginnings as an arm of Karrayili Adult Education Centre, a community initiative set up for local people who wanted to learn English. The art centre takes its name from the Walmajarri word ‘mangkaja’ – a  wet weather shelter traditionally made from spinifex erected by the Walmajarri people of the Great Sandy Desert prior to settler contact. Today, Mangkaja Arts embodies that term, providing a haven for artists to meet, talk and paint both important esoteric and personal stories.

Ngarralja was born at Yarrnkurnja in the Great Sandy Desert in 1935. A Wangkajunga and Walmajarri man, Ngarralja walked in from the desert with his mother and brother as a young man. A senior man and activist for art and culture in Fitzroy Crossing, Ngarralja served on the board of Mangkaja Arts, Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre and the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists until he passed away in 2022. Known for his wild approach to colour and mark-making, and experimental use of mixed-media, May’s work is held in many private and public collections. 

This item is available in Store at Midland Junction Arts Centre.

Images and text courtesy of One of Twelve.